Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

16 reviews

sploack's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

What the hell did I just read? Not only does this book not have any plot whatsoever, but it also seamlessly normalizes sexism, violence, cheating, incest, animal abuse, child abuse and pedophilia. And is there even a single likeable character in the whole story? In my opinion they’re all shamelessly terrible people. 

Its only merit is that it is well written, but that can’t save it from me giving it 1 star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, and War

lizzzitro's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

jakluke's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Well, that was suspicious… I really wanted to love this book, but man was it a slog! 

420 pages of description, very little discourse, 20 characters who were sleeping with siblings, aunties and cousins from across this world of make believe and everyone had the same name … I’m confused. 

It’s a saga, spanning 100 years, but you never know how old people are or what timeline your in. I think one guy died a dozen times and then when he finally died, he came back so often that I just felt I was meeting myself coming backwards. 

I sense something really beautiful in this book, but I think I will find the beauty in a future reread. I am not willing to give up on this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, and Gun violence

enya_ce's review against another edition

relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I really like this book.
It was what itroduced me to magic realism and to this author.
I find it really interesting, just watching how time changes things. How an entire town, and an entire family, can develop over the span of 100 years. How some things that were well known before, become forgotten.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and War

catapocalypse's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There is so, so much to say about this book.

First, I can't believe how seldom its humor is brought up by others! There's a lot of focus placed on the heavy, cynical, serious elements, but there's also many absurd and silly and tongue-in-cheek and clever elements!

Even while mixing all those things, García Márquez subtly shifts the feel of the narrative as it progresses. Mind, this is an entirely character-driven story, with little to no real plot beyond the lifespan of the Buendía family and their town of Macondo. Folks who prefer plot-driven stories may find this book incredibly boring! But as time passes, the family, town, and narrative itself seem to shift and mature in a way. The beginnings of all three feature many fantastic elements. There are flights of fancy viewed with an almost childlike wonder. Time feels more sprawling.

But as things progress, they become more grounded in reality (though never entirely), and more serious events and concerns pop up. The little town of Macondo starts without even a mayor, but gradually sees Colonel Aureliano Buendía's war, the influence of foreign colonizing powers, and the high tension of the banana company worker strikes. Time gradually speeds up to the hurricane pace of the ending.

Across this lifespan of the Buendía family and Macondo, there's a lot going on, and García Márquez brilliantly connects all of it together. Even fanciful elements are not careless. I feel it has high reread value, and might even consider an immediate reread if I didn't have so much else to get to right now.

I do have some warnings. While the narrative is fairly linear in time, there are some overlapping points where events are retraced when the focus has moved between characters. This isn't so bad, so long as you can keep track of the many similarly-named ones. I recommend an edition that provides a family tree, like that from Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

There are also many Content Warnings, some rather significant, so please check out those listed for the book on its entry!

The prevalence of some of this, especially of the incest and problematic relationships between adults and minors, will definitely turn off some readers, which is valid! I was conflicted on its inclusion the entire way through, but ultimately, I think it ties into the presentation of the Buendía family as being deeply flawed. Let's face it, Úrsula was probably right about everything all along.

I'm sure there are even further layers I'm not fathoming. I do think that this book fully deserves its status as a classic, and I will absolutely read more Gabriel García Márquez. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Vomit, and Cannibalism

keenanmaree's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Dementia

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Excrement, and Dementia